Built with WordPress, this site is designed to be a resource for scrapbookers. It offers tips and challenges to help scrappers improve their layout, photography, and journaling skills. The main goal of the site, though, is to encourage their readers to keep at their craft each and every day.

Along those lines, when I took my job at Miles Media I all but abandoned my personal blogging and WP theme/plugin development. (I didn’t have to, I was just “too busy”.) And Miles doesn’t use WordPress for many clients, so I haven’t had many opportunities to work with it at the office, either. In that time I’ve grown by leaps and bounds in my understanding of PHP and MySQL (you don’t know what you don’t know, amiright?), but I forgot just how much fun WordPress can be.

I may not be into scrapbooking, but I’ve been inspired by this new site. Blogging is quite a bit like scrapbooking, after all… it’s just usually more text-based. So I think I’ll be adding the site to my RSS reader; not under “portfolio”, but under “inspiration”.

We’ve now started our 3rd year in Sarasota. While I’d love to say it hasn’t changed me, it’s currently 71ºF in the house and I’m shivering, wondering if I should adjust the thermostat to get the heater going.

This is a bad sign, but things could get much, much worse. If you happen to spot me driving around in a convertible, wearing something obnoxious and gold around my neck? Please just put me out of my misery right then and there.

Josh,

As one of the former moderators for your message board (remember that old thing?), I know what a big deal it is for you to let some of these comments sit here.

And as a former SGM member (2 years at CCK, 2 years at Joppa), I want to impress upon you that those of us who have spoken publicly regarding our concerns with SGM… we’re not your Assyrians. We’re the donkeys to your Balaam.

You see, God has shown us the damage that you and other leaders are wreaking upon yourselves and your congregations. When we tried to bring this to you, it was received as sabotage—a rebellious attempt to divert you from your course—and the ‘rod of correction’ was brought down on us.

We were not in the habit of doing these things—of speaking in this way about these churches and leaders we truly loved—yet that was not taken into consideration when we refused to go down the path we were being lead. No, when that happened your focus was on your ‘crushed foot’, and the rod of correction was once more laid against our backs.

And for nearly all of us, this conflict came to a point where there was nowhere left to turn—we were being pushed toward a place we knew was wrong, but all you saw was our ‘prideful arrogance’ in refusing to go down that path. So once more we felt the sting of an ignorant rebuke.

And then, God gave us a voice.

God has used SGM Refuge and SGM Survivors to make you see what you could not—what you would not: this whole time, while you were being so diligent to ‘bring Godly church discipline’ to bear? We’ve been trying to save your life.

I and others certainly have scars from those beatings. Do not waste them. Please, do not rush through this time of repentance! There are quite literally thousands of God’s adopted sons and daughters who have been deeply wounded by the arrogance of SGM pastors. Not only do those former and current members need to see a vibrant repentance, but those pastors need you to set an example of Godly humility for them. Up until now their primary example has been C.J., and speaking as someone who was only ever a “rank-and-file” member? They have taken his example to heart—even the worst parts, the parts you thought you were successfully ‘covering’.

It breaks my heart to (even now) see messages from SGM pastors this past Sunday, calling for mercy toward C.J. but chastisement for those who have been hurt by his actions. Please—no more favoritism! Show as much mercy toward your critics as you wish to show toward C.J., and hold Mr. Mahaney’s feet to the fire just as much as wish to do with ours.

Though some have given up hope of those SGM pastors ever truly repenting, many (I daresay most of us) still cling to the hope that God will grant you all repentance (and, for many, reconciliation). I have to admit, I had almost given up hope. But (for the first time in nearly five years), when I listened to your message from this past Sunday I could actually begin to imagine that we might actually be reconciled this side of Eternity. I can’t think of an adequate way to express the hope that was awakened in my soul as I listened to your ‘humiliation’—it was like hearing a loved one’s seemingly terminal cancer had gone into remission!

You have our attention, Josh. But more than that, you have our full support. Don’t squander this opportunity! Let’s work together to really dig up that stone and get it out of the garden for good. Please believe me: your “Assyrians” don’t seek your destruction; we’ve been crying out to SAVE YOU from destruction. We gained nothing (and lost much) from doing so:

“The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” (Numbers 22:33)

So far, C.J. has only expressed the vague ‘repentance’ of King Saul. I pray it doesn’t end there. Your message on Sunday had more the heart of Josiah’s repentance, and this is far more encouraging. Thank you for taking this painful first step.

# sudo port install gd2
Password:
---> Fetching expat
---> Attempting to fetch expat-2.0.1.tar.gz from http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/expat
[...15 minutes later...]
^C

I dug around forums for about an hour trying to find a reason why it wasn’t downloading. Looked like it might be a problem with the mirror, but I wasn’t sure.

Turns out MacPorts just needed an update:

# sudo port -v selfupdate

After about 3 minutes of that, I was able to run the first command and it worked perfectly. (My suspicion was right, too: this time, it went to http://softlayer.dl.sourceforge.net/expat instead.)

Hebrews 7:5 states, “And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers.”

It is described (to Hebrew believers, no less) as a foreign practice: they have a commandment — not us; they take it (present-tense) — as of the writing of this epistle, the tithe was still being collected by Levites.

Over and over again, in every industry, precisely the same calculation takes place. “Should I pay significantly more to have it done the old way, the local way, the traditional way, the way that pays my neighbor a living wage—or should I keep the money?”

[...]

Abstract macroeconomic theories are irrelevant to the people making a million tiny microeconomic decisions every day in a hypercompetitive world. And those decisions repeatedly favor fast and cheap over slow and expensive.

Over the weekend I picked up Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? from the library. (My hold request was behind a few others. I think this is a good thing: it means there’s people in the Sarasota area who (a) use the library for its intended purposes, and (b) know enough about Seth Godin to want to reserve his new book within the first few weeks after it hits the shelves.)

I’m still only in the first chapter, but I really like what I’ve read so far. This seems to be a bit different from Godin’s previous books.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he almost seems to be focusing more on sociological issues and concepts in this book’s opening, where previous books started off using more personal anecdotes and individual experiences. It makes Linchpin feel like it doesn’t belong with his previous “business/marketing” books so much as with McKibben’s Deep Economy and Postman’s Technopoly.

I like that. And even if it’s not how the rest of the book will read, it’s still good for Godin. Criticism levied toward the ideas in his books often takes the tone of “he’s just a clueless huckster using anecdotes to advance untested ideas.” This opening shows that, at the very least, he’s done his homework.

When an economy operates locally, everyone in it enjoys some measure of power. But when an economy operates globally, only a select few ever rise to a level of power.

Dan says that statement seems backward, but if you toss Dunbar’s number into the equation, I think it all makes sense.

When the scope of the economy is, say, 50-250 people, then (generally speaking) each person is able to maintain a relationship with each other person in the group. These connections keep us “in the loop,” which is absolutely necessary for one to retain that measure of economic power.

When the scope is increased to over 5 billion people, there will be only a very few who are able to forge and maintain a sufficient number of relationships to key players. Those few become the key players, and it’s only by their maintaining those relationships (or by being pursued by other key players) that they retain their power and influence.

Granting that we don’t like such a system, what would the solution be? We can’t force people to not use the transportation and communication tools at their disposal—particularly when doing so appears to be economically sound. (Just look at the environmentalist movements of the 20th century: it’s still the case that, for the vast majority of humankind, “earth-friendly” alternatives are only pursued when they are cheaper, more convenient, or both.) Very few households are truly willing to pay higher prices supporting local economies when they can save a few bucks buying from China.

How did this happen? It’s said that “if you tax something, you get less of it.” For decades our Local, State and Federal governments have increased taxes and regulations on businesses within this nation’s borders while removing tariffs and other barriers to trade with foreign nations. The result is that it’s cheaper to have food shipped over by boat or plane from the other side of the planet than it is to stock shelves with produce from the farmer on the edge of town.

Ultimately, I don’t think we can say that the customer is the one to blame. Free trade with other nations has been pursued at the same time that trade amongst ourselves has been made more and more restrictive. (It’s gotten to where you risk fines, or even jail time, for keeping an eye on your friends’ kids for a few minutes “without a license”!) So if you want to change the system, you may need to change the system.

She who first began the practice of tearing out her tender progeny deserved to die in her own warfare. Can it be that, to be free of the flaws of stretchmarks, you have to scatter the tragic sands of carnage? Why will you subject your womb to the weapons of abortion and give dread poisons to the unborn? The tigress lurking in Armenia does no such thing, nor does the lioness dare destroy her young. Yet tender girls do so—though not with impunity; often shoe who kills what is in her womb dies herself.

Ovid, Amores, 2.14 (selections).

We’ve been making the same arguments for 2025 years.

I’ve been reading (and commenting at) Dan Edelen’s blog, Cerulean Sanctum for years. And it’s no wonder: he writes about Jesus, the Church and agrarianism—all topics I enjoy reading about.

Anyway, he and his family in Columbus a few days back, and he suggested we meet over a meal. I picked Bob Evans (yeah, baby!) and we had a great time talking about life, family, and European board games.

I teased him about how there’s so few photos of him on the web, people can get the impression that he’s really a 60-year-old woman in New Jersey. So he let me provide this corroborating evidence that he is who he claims to be on his blog:

Could you keep Dan in your prayers? He’s having surgery today, and it sounds like his recovery is probably going to take a while. He works as a freelance writer/editor, and I can certainly appreciate how stressful it can be to have to take a month off (without pay, of course) when you work from home.

Penelope (“Penny”) Joy Seitler
born June 17th, 2009 at 1:09pm
weighing 9 lbs, 4 oz and measuring 20 inches long

More to come later, but for now? We rest.

In the clip above, Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-8) asks the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent or spent by the Federal Reserve and where it went, and the trillions of off balance sheet obligations. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman responds that her office does not know and is not tracking where this money is.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (HR 1207) would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The map below shows which Representatives (by District) have cosponsored the bill as of June 16, 2009:

(Map created using a public domain image available at Wikimedia Commons and the Library of Congress’ list of cosponsors.)

So now I learn that the Federal Reserve is actually seeking to hire a lobbyist to fight against this (and similar) legislation. And I’m left wondering, “if you don’t have anything to hide, then what’s the problem with an impartial audit?” Our children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren are going to be saddled with enormous debts as a result of this massive inflation (that is, an increase in the money supply). If such spending is truly justified, then it’s a painful hardship we’ll have to deal with. But if it’s not justified, then it needs to stop!

If your Congressional District isn’t lit up yet, send a message to your Representative and Senators telling them you want them to support the Audit the Fed bill (HR 1207 in the House, S 604 in the Senate). Then show your neighbors the YouTube clip above and get them to write your Representative and Senators, too.

But as the weather started getting nicer, we came out of our hibernation! Memorial Day weekend in particular was beautiful, and we were all over the place. On May 21, we made our first visit to Graeter’s Ice Cream in Bexley.

Then on the 23rd, we drove out to see what they had at the Worthington Farmers Market. We didn’t really buy anything, but we browsed a lot.

The next day, we went to the 2009 Asian Festival at Franklin Park. The kids loved it:

After such a crazy weekend, Nicole needed a little “pregnant momma” time to recuperate. But after hanging out with the Grace Central crowd this past Sunday, I was able to convince her that it’d be a great idea to swing out to The North Market for lunch!

Nicole got a Greek Salad from Firdous Express, I got Lamb Curry from Flavors of India, and the kids picked off of both. Afterward, I picked up a downright amazing Buckeye Latté from A Touch of Earth! Seriously, I’m not kidding: peanut butter, chocolate and coffee all together in a single cup? YES PLEASE!

As you can see, the Zen Cart team hasn’t bothered to be very descriptive about what these flags actually do. So I pulled up a few resources, hazarded a few guesses and put together a brief summary of each. After sending it to my client, I thought it might prove helpful to others… so here it is.

Used For Display Purposes Only
If “Yes,” the customer wouldn’t be able to select this attribute. (The option is intended for situations like a drop-down menu, where the default item in the drop-down is a message like, “choose from one of the following options.” You wouldn’t want a customer to choose that as their product option.)

Attribute is Free When Product is Free
It depends on what you’d like to do with the product. Some options can be set to tack on an additional fee (such as selecting a license that grants personal and commercial use); if you want to do that, then setting this option to “no” would allow you to mark an item as free for personal use, but still charge customers who want to buy a commercial license.

Default Attribute to be Marked Selected
When the customer needs to select one of the attribute options (required for “virtual” [downloadable] products), this guarantees that one of the options is selected when the customer adds the product to their cart. (Otherwise, when they order they won’t get a download link for the item they purchased.) This is especially important when there is only one option for the attribute: in such cases, the customer is unlikely to even realize an option needs to be selected (since from their point of view, there aren’t any options)!

Apply Discounts Used by Product Special/Sale
As with Attribute is Free When…, this depends on your personal preferences and whether your attribute options alter the price of the item in question. If, for example, we’re dealing with an item which is composed of a single file download (hence no surcharge added to the product listing’s base price), then it doesn’t really make any difference. If you have product options (like a c.u. license) which come at an additional price, then this flag determines whether or not something like a “store–wide 40% off sale” will apply to that additional fee.

Include in Base Price When Priced by Attributes
This one’s the most vague setting in the list. From what I’ve read, it’s intended for products which have been marked “price by attributes.” So here’s the scenario I came up with to explain the concept to myself: Say you have a shop where you sell costumes. There’s a page where one can buy a Zorro getup. On that page, the customer can choose from various hat, shirt, pants and boot sizes, as well as the material for the foil (sword). In each option group, the cheapest item can be flagged with this Include in Base Price When… option, with the more expensive alternatives adding surcharges (+$5.00) to the base price (as determined by the cheap options).

(But so long as you’re not getting into such customizable products, it doesn’t really matter what you set it to.)

Attribute Required for Text
This should instead be labeled “Attribute Required (for text fields),” because it’s only for cases (such as monogrammed items) where you need the customer to enter text in a box before they can add the item to their cart.

Now as I said, this is what I could find combined with what I presume. If someone more knowledgeable about Zen Cart would like to correct me, please do!

This card only has five dollars, and after that you can’t buy anything anymore. # But Daddy’s card is plugged into the bank, so he *always* has money! #

If only, Katie… if only.

Well, I fell victim to what the telephone industry calls a “crammer”: basically, due to deregulation phone companies are required (by the FCC, or the FTC… something like that) to add other companies’ bills to your phone bill if those companies tell them to. It’s supposed to make it easier to get your long-distance bill from Company B tacked onto the end of your local bill from Company A. The problem is it’s rife with abuse. #

Case in point: someone set up an account with “Email Discount Network, LLC” using my phone number, so their $15/month membership fee was charged to me on my phone bill. # I didn’t pay attention last month and paid it; this month I noticed how high the bill was and discovered this little gem.

So I followed the instructions on my phone bill, and I called “Enhanced Services Billing, Inc,” who then redirected me to EDN. The EDN representative apologized, and agreed to issue a credit to my AT&T account. # Apparently someone named “Donna Osmond” (yeah, right) set up an account through their web site and entered my phone number by mistake (uh huh). Supposedly this happens from time to time… and given the fact that no effort was made to call that number and verify account creation before billing it, I’m not surprised in the least.

I made sure to get a reference number (which came in handy later).

Once that was all done, I called AT&T for a few reasons: first, to make sure it was in their records that I was “officially” disputing the EDN charges; second, to let them know why I wasn’t going to pay that portion of my bill this month; third, to make sure they wouldn’t penalize me with a late fee if I didn’t pay the disputed charge on my bill. # The AT&T representative (Hector) asked if I had a reference number from EDN (so it’s a good thing I got one—the EDN rep didn’t volunteer it, so it would have been my word against theirs if I’d failed to get it). I gave it to him, he filed a report and said there would be no late fees for the unpaid portion of my bill. #

Then after a brief sales pitch (which I turned down, because a family without a TV doesn’t need Digital TV service), he offered me a free 4-month DSL upgrade and told me he’d send along a $5 Starbucks card, too. # WIN!

And that, dear friends, is what a little kindness & patience (and a calm voice) can get you in frustrating situations like this! #

“A good name is more desirable than great riches” (Prov. 22:1). So when people feel wronged by you, do what AT&T did here: more than make it up to them. #

Larry Douthwaite is a pastor in my old hometown of Littlestown, PA. He’s also spent the past fifteen years serving the local public school district as a crossing guard. He can usually be spotted at the corner of North Queen and East Myrtle streets, and he usually is spotted… because he has a propensity to wear some pretty crazy hats.

Not only does this help drowsy drivers pay attention to the school crossing in the morning, but seeing him in some zany headgear had a way of cheering even the grouchiest commuters.

All that may be changing, though, thanks to borough manager Linda M. Hess.

In a story that has garnered national attention, with Larry appearing on FOX & Friends two days in a row (this past Wednesday and Thursday), Linda apparently saw a driver swerve near Larry’s intersection one morning. She then decided Larry’s crazy hat was to blame, and sent a letter off to Littlestown Chief of Police Don Baker to order the end of the “crazy hat” era. (Ironically, Chief Baker doesn’t seem to have a problem with the hats.)

“I’ll get you, my pretty… and your crazy hat, too!”

I’m wondering a few things, not least of which is this: why did Linda Hess write a letter to the Police Chief and have him speak to Larry, instead of first speaking herself directly with Larry… or at least with the school superintendent? It really seems like a passive-aggressive power play to me. And it’s in stark contrast to Larry’s response, which was to immediately schedule a meeting with Ms. Hess to try and hash things out mano-a-mano.

Larry’s been beyond reproach in the whole thing, to the point of urging others not to criticize Linda for her decision. But he didn’t say anything against criticizing her for her approach to the situation. Personally? If I had to guess, I’d say it sounds like the hats have irritated Ms. Hess for a while now, and she finally got her chance to order their permanent removal. Makes me think of Miss Almira Gulch, if you know what I mean.

So feel free to send an e-mail to her at lmhess@littlestownboro.org (according to Littlestown’s official web site), and let her know what you think about the crossing guard who went the extra mile to make sure motorists paid attention.

Apparently the years of inane, almost-funny strips… it was all an act! In the course of a single 1-panel comic, Keane has pwned all the haters. He has shown just how dark and twisted he can really be.

I mean, having the star of the strip carrying around a dead pet, implying through his question that maybe… just maybe… his sweet kitten isn’t dead after all? Ooh! Bravo, Mr. Keane. You have successfully shown us all that you can play demented with the best of ‘em, while at the same time making us feel guilty for ever wanting to see it in the first place.

Could it be that we’re on the cusp of seeing Family Circus walk down paths blazed by Lynn Johnston’s For Better or For Worse Gouge Your Eyes Out and Tom Batiuk’s Funky Winkerbean (Remembers Dead Loved Ones Over A Pint Filled With His Own Tears)?

Please, good sir, bring back the schlock tomorrow! I don’t think our hearts could take little Billy’s reaction when he realizes that “DED KITTEH… IZ DED.”

(At least, I could wish this was the intended meaning behind the strip. Nicole thinks it’s something more… inane. One can hope, though…)

I wanted to take a few minutes and share my thoughts on a passage from the Bible that’s been on my radar lately:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. — Ephesians 4:29, ESV

Y’know, I think there’s a world of difference between what Paul was thinking when he said this, and what people today tend to think when they read it.

This verse marks the last of four times in this epistle where Paul uses the same word (Gr. oikodome, but your translation probably says something like “good for building up,” or “edifying”). Even so, when I’ve heard pastors preach on this topic they’ve typically focused in on an understanding of the word that’s informed solely by the verse itself, and divorced from other passages where Paul’s usage could shed light on what he means by it. This sort of thing always bugs me: if pastors are trying to build a true understanding of what Paul’s telling us to do here, then at the very least they ought to point us to those previous instances of the word. Right?

Because let me tell ya… it certainly helps it all make sense!

Here’s all four appearances of oikodome as they’re translated in the ESV. I’ve bolded (emboldened?) the word we’re talking about, and pointed out what I see as the key takeaway point from each (well, the key for understanding what Paul’s getting at with this “edification” stuff, at least):

1. Ephesians 2:19-22
   So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

   What’s the goal? In Jesus, we are being “edified” into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

2. Ephesians 4:11-14
   And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

   The purpose of “the 5-fold ministry” is to get the rest of us to a place where we’re equipped/trained/able to “edify” each other until we all reach the point of mature, Christ-like unity.

3. Ephesians 4:15-16
   Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

   Here Paul starts connecting our words with this concept of “edification.” He describes something like a circuit, where loving words of truth lead to our growing up into Christ, which feeds back into our expressed love leading to more growth, etc.

4. Ephesians 4:25-32
   Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

   Now that we have the previous passages as context, we can see that when Paul talks about “building up,” he’s referring to talk that leads to increased spiritual growth and purity. (In a nutshell, “edifying speech” could also be called “sanctifying speech.”)

What concerns me is that, in the sermons I’ve heard addressing the topic of “edifying speech,” most pastors seem to have taken a cue from pop psychology, and changed this word’s meaning away from “sanctifying” and toward something akin to “affirming.” No longer is “edifying speech” about growing the body into greater Christ-likeness, but now it’s a tool we use to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, and avoid any unpleasantness we’d rather not deal with.

When we do this, priorities shift. Jesus being glorified by our increasingly pure reflection of Him? That’s no longer as important as making sure we only ever say things that give out brothers and sisters (and pastors) warm fuzzies.

That’s just messed up.

Now of course, we’re supposed to speak in love! And we’re to stash the bitterness and malice. But according to 4:25, Paul doesn’t think truth should be sacrificed on the altar of flattery.

So this passage doesn’t seem to say anything definitive against “sharing a bad report” (as I’ve heard some pastors seem to have recently implied). If you’re sharing such things it out of bitterness or malice, then it would be wrong to do so… for other reasons.

But if you’re sharing that “bad report” so that Jesus’ Bride can see it, be alarmed, and focus on those blemishes being cleaned… then in fact Paul encourages the behavior!

So in summary: Paul’s goal is for us to leave each other a little more like Jesus. Sometimes, that means we need to “share a bad report,” to staunch the flow of disease and call attention to some behavior that’s damaging the Body.

Even—no, especially—when that behavior is coming from those who presume to lead and teach. The Body of Christ is not built up when wolves are praised as wonderful leaders.

I’m in the middle of a project that just isn’t going smoothly. We’re dealing with version incompatibility issues between the main app and an add-on module, weird MySQL bugs, endless template hacks and multiple reinstalls.

And I’m eating it up.

Now don’t get me wrong: we do have a deadline and I am stressing out about that. But the actual work of cleaning up the mess itself? That, my friends, is downright invigorating.

Happy Monday!

This is another of rediscovered writings from 1999. I actually read this over the air during one of WJTL’s Youth Group Nights. “Radio Friend” Phil Smith let me read it on-air without looking over it first… and he seemed a bit unnerved when I was through.

A chilling darkness fills the sky,
a cold and sinister screen.
Grotesque, demonic shapes fly ’round
with eyes of glowing green.

You feel them breathing down your neck,
but frozen there, you lie.
While blazing, white hot lightning
all around you fills the sky.

Slowly you perceive their forms
with bloodlust in their eyes,
And at that very moment you
know they have found their prize.

They laugh at, mock and taunt you.
They take pleasure from your pain.
And even though you try to flee,
your struggle is in vain.

But then you find your Holy weapon,
just before they pounce;
A sword of shining silver with
which they will be renounced.

You strike ten, nay, a hundred beasts,
with thousands left to slay.
The nearest standing makes it clear
he’ll not be chased away.

“I’ve known you your entire life,
I’ve made you what you are.
Although, I am surprised that you
have gotten quite this far.”

The words that pass ‘tween slimy lips,
they fill your heart with dread:
“The game is over now my child,
in other words, you’re dead.”

The battle rages quite some time,
good swordsmanship you show.
But then he brings you to your knees
with a near-fatal blow.

“I said that you would never win,
and very soon, you’ll die.
For you have passed up every chance
to join the Prince of Lies.”

With every bit of energy
still flowing in your blood,
You raise the sword above your head
and stick it in the mud.

You close your eyes and bow your head,
you pray to God on high,
To send His mighty warriors,
swords lighting up the nigh.

The clouds recede into the sky,
a beam of light streaks down.
Ten thousand Holy warriors step
onto the battleground.

You suddenly wake up with a start
and scan your dim-lit room.
You sense an evil presence,
makes the dark feel like a tomb.

You’re out of bed and on your knees,
you pray with all your might,
That from this day until the last
you’ll carry on the fight.

And as you climb back into bed
this thought you start to feel:
“Was this all just in my head,
or was that battle real?”

(This is the first in a series of rediscovered writings from one of my first web sites back in 1999. Some may have aged well, others… not so much. I’ll let you decide.)

This morning at the kitchen sink, I was hit with a revelation. Jesus is kind of like a dish rag. Hey, don’t give me that look. Let me explain before you flame me, okay?

A dish rag washes dishes that are caked with all sorts of nasty stuff like dried ketchup and crusty eggs. Likewise, when we ask for forgiveness, Jesus removes the sin from our lives and makes us sparkle like new.

Another parallel is in the cleaning method. The way a dish rag cleans dishes is by taking the food (if you want to call it that) and getting it stuck to itself. It’s common knowledge that the dish rag is the dirtiest, most germ-ridden item in the sink. The Bible says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) In other words, Jesus got dirty to make us clean. In his death on the cross, all of our sin was placed on Jesus. Matthew 27:46 says “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’–which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” If you’ve ever cleaned out a refrigerator and had to toss out things like chunky milk and something with fuzzy green stuff growing on it, you get the picture. We ain’t talkin’ ’bout no rotten egg. The stench of the sin placed on Jesus was so strong, God had to turn his face to keep from barfing.

Yet another similarity is in what is washed. Have you ever washed a plate, and think you have déja vu, until you realize you really DID wash that plate before? That’s right. Even though you’ve cleaned the plate, it got dirty again. “Well, duh, Travis! You really WERE born yesterday, weren’t you!” Gimme a break. Jesus is like that, too. No, he doesn’t get déja vu. What I mean is that even when he’s forgiven all of our sin, we still mess up. That’s why 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

There is one difference, though. (Okay, maybe more than one, but it’s all you’re getting out of me.) After a while, a dish rag gets so worn from continuous cleaning that it has to be tossed out and replaced, but Romans 6:10 states that “The death he died, he died to sin once for all”. Jesus’ act of mercy covered the sins of every single human who ever lived and ever will live, and will never run out. There’s no ‘sin limit’, and there’s no sin so big that he can’t forgive. All that is needed is to ask. According to Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Y’know, I think I’ve had my head in the suds too long.

• I’m stepping down as Art Director for Gemstone Publishing’s line of Disney Comics. My last day will be Wednesday, November 26th.
• Two days later, we’re loading up a truck and moving to Columbus, Ohio! (Thanks in advance to Rae Whitlock, who’s already agreed to round up some strapping young church men to help us unload the truck over the weekend.)
• I’m looking to take on some additional freelance web design and optimization clients. If you know anybody who’s looking for that, you can get yourself a 10% referral bonus (because I’m cool like that—also because I hate cold-calling). Just go on over to the “Feedback” page and pick your favorite way to get in touch with me.

UPDATE: According to Google Maps, this might be where we’re moving:

We intend to largely keep it under wraps until launch, but we’ll nevertheless try and keep you updated on our progress. For now, you’ll have to content yourselves with this conceptual art. (It’s been magnified 4x so you can better appreciate the many details already in place.)

We don’t have a launch date finalized, but marks your calendars for a June ’09 release!

So he talked to his financial advisers, and decided, “I’ll max out my 401(k), flip some real estate, buy up a bunch of tech stocks and live off the dividends. I’ll be all set, and I can retire before I’m fifty! See the world… maybe spend a year or two relaxing in Paris. I’m set for life.”

But God had other ideas: that same week the economy tanked, taking all the man’s investments with it. He died over the weekend of a massive stress-induced heart attack.

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

So here’s the deal: don’t worry about “taking care of yourself.” God’s been taking care of the rest of the world for a while now, and frankly, he’s way better at it than you are. There’s all sorts of idiots scurrying around chasing after things they have no real control over.

Don’t be like them, they’re stupid.

Instead, chase after God’s kingdom and trust him to take care of that other stuff. He’s happy to do it, too! So don’t freak out; sell all of that crap you’ve been holding onto, then take that money and give it to people who are worse off than you. That’s how you chase after God’s kingdom, and it’s the only investment that’s a sure thing.

See, you’re like a manager who’s been put in charge of payroll: you’ve been given access to large sums of money, but don’t let that delude you into thinking the money’s for you, because it’s not. What would the boss say if he found out that while he was on vacation, that manager withheld everybody else’s paychecks and gave himself a hefty bonus? Do you think he’d even be given time to clear out his desk?

Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

HT: Photo Basement via io9.

If you’re on Twitter, post your answer there and include the #ifelected hashtag. I’ve got a few in there already, but it’d be more fun if somebody else was playing with me! Make it funny, serious and/or insightful… just don’t be bland. (And make sure you’re following hashtag on Twitter if you want yours included in their index.)

Anybody who’s trying to get a handle on the current economic free-for-all should check out The Real Great Depression, which does a great job explaining how the depression of 1873 mostly happened because too many banks approved too many bad mortgages in the commercial real estate sector, and so it’s a better analog to what we’re seeing today.

More generally, the Ludwig von Mises Institute put together a collection of articles to help you understand the bailout and everything related to it (Freddie Mac, short-selling, etc.). Lew Rockwell put together a similar collection of “I told you so” articles.

My favorites, though, were all the “when flashing” signs we drove past. Nicole wasn’t, so I was pretty confident that we could just dismiss them all.

This conversation actually happened (more or less) on a message board Nicole and I dual-admin for her digital scrapbooking creative team. I’m not much of a digital scrapbooker, so all I end up “contributing” is goofy, geeky stuff (like Dinosaur Comics). It’s all good, though, because Nicole’s CT is chock-full o’ nuts like the two of us, so they (usually) appreciate the geeky things I toss in there.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this one with everybody (especially maybe Ryan?). Also, in this comic Utahraptor’s reading my lines. I know y’all were dying to know that, so you’re welcome.

HT: Myself on Twitter. (Can I get more lame than that? LET’S NOT FIND OUT, MMMKAY?)

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV)

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

"'This people honors me with their lips,
      but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
      teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Of course, it makes a difference when the person preaching asked for someone to read the passage.

It’s illuminating to read what church leaders wrote in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. So much corruption crept in when Rome took over the church that it’s otherwise difficult to sort what practices are actually rooted in the Apostles’ teachings.

If you have a few minutes, go read Alan’s posts. You may be surprised at how much church meetings have changed!

Nicole and I took the kids out to Longs Park on Sunday afternoon. We had a good time just relaxing, goofing off at one of the playgrounds, and hanging out at the petting zoo. Yes, I said “the petting zoo.” At a park!

This is just one of the many reasons why I love Lancaster County.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington’s requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks.

(Source: The Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press)

Of course, it’s the stereotypical 5-to-4 ruling… which basically means half of the current judges presiding over the Supreme Court are complete idiots. (Really: if you have a feeling the vote is going this way, isn’t this like telling every potential “freak militiaman” to start gunning for you? It doesn’t make any sense to me… because now you don’t have gun bans to hide behind. I just don’t get it.)

“A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of [consequences of] leaving it, etc) designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.”

(HT: Wikipedia)

This past weekend, Nicole and I took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who! It was Joshua’s first time in a movie theater, and he did okay. (He got a bit whiny toward the end, so I took him over near the door and held him a bit, and he calmed down.)

Anyway, the movie was a lot of fun. I had trouble keeping track of whether Horton and the kangaroo represented “mainstream culture vs. evil, close-minded fundamentalists” or “believer vs. atheist.” It was a little too disorienting to try and embrace both models at the same time—maybe due to my taking personally the homeschooling dig early in the film.

As with previous Dr. Seuss theatrical adaptations, a number of additions were made to convert the 72-page book into an 86-minute film. Unlike previous live-action Seussian projects, however, these additions (for the most part) added something to the story without mutating it into a children’s book version of Ace Ventura. Even the anime fight sequence worked! The main exception in my mind?

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

At first glance, Katie seems to have been intended to play the part of the cute toddler who sometimes makes strange remarks. She ends up just being creepy, though. Her character is so dissonant in relation to the rest of the movie that she doesn’t just seem out of place… she seems like a saboteur, intentionally seeking to derail the story.

Aside from Katie, the movie just works. So, since she doesn’t have much screen time, I’d give the movie 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

I took Katie with me this morning (she’s almost a bigger Ron Paul supporter than I am; she says he’s her “favorite President ever”) out to my local polling place. Now I think it’s weird that the State government is using a religious institution’s building to run a government function, but hey–I’m one of those weird “separation of Church and State”rs. Outside the building was a table where a guy had a sample Republican ballot, as well as this handy-dandy little reference card:

FYI: 100% of the identified Ron Paul supporters (three of the four candidates in each list) are “NOT ENDORSED” by the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, PA. Those candidates are listed at RonPaulPA.com.

You know, this just seems odd to me. I can see a special interest group endorsing certain GOP candidates before the GOP primary, but why would the GOP itself be endorsing particular candidates before the primary election?

Why should their a priori endorsement matter to me? Isn’t that a little bit backwards?

Sorry, I’m just a little bit angry about this. If they’d given reasons for the endorsements (or lack thereof), I might feel better about it. But when they do something like this, aren’t they implicitly saying “those candidates aren’t ‘Republican’ enough”? Fine, make that claim… but support it if you want me to take you seriously!

Just handing over this card, though… party officials are literally dictating to area residents how to vote?! How would it look if your county’s Democratic party was telling all the Democrats to vote for Obama? That’s what this looks like to me.

The purpose of a primary is for me to tell you who to vote for, “Party Officials”; not vice-versa.

Ooh… it just burns me up!

Well, this one gave me pause. Then it confused me. Then I was convinced that I had a moral obligation to share it with all of you!

This is an e-mail I received from Clair. Or maybe it’s from Kristina:

Here’s some Very Interesting Things that jumped out at me:

1. She claims to have “closely read [my] profile” (only God knows what profile she’s referring to), yet has somehow gotten the (wrong) idea that I’m either unmarried or willing to cheat on my wife. (“I looking for serious relations.”)
2. She’s under the impression that I’m dirt-poor. (“For me are not necessary money.”)
3. She called me ugly! (“The external beauty for me too is not important.”)
4. Here’s the kicker, and it’s what made her request for “the man will concern to me” so gosh-darned tempting: people, at the free time she likes to go to DISCO!

But nope! Sorry, Ms. Whoever-you-think-your-name-is… I already got a wife off the Internet.

Numb3rs wouldn’t have an audience if it weren’t for Square One TV‘s MathNet. I think it’s only fair for them to write an episode guest-starring Joe Howard and Beverly Leech (George Frankly and Kate Monday, respectively).

They don’t have to be law enforcement officers; but the stronger their connection to solving crimes with math, the cooler it would be.

And speaking of Square One actors making guest appearances, Larry Cedar would make a perfect brother to LOST‘s Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). Just sayin’.

Katie got to do some pretty cool things this morning:

• take part in her first “community” Easter egg hunt
• meet Lisa Landis
• make her first-ever request for the Kids Cookie Break request hour

So she’s a happy camper.

“They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food–but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations.” — Pliny the Younger

In more sixpencey words, “Sing a song to Jesus | and promise not to lie | then get together in a home | and eat some fresh-baked pie.” Sounds… simple, doesn’t it? Why doesn’t this sound anything like most Christians’ (in the Western world, at least) Sunday gatherings? Head on over to Alan Knox’s post on it to chime in on that particular discussion.

“…how is it that CJ Mahaney can make 5 references to his pride and arrogance in his blog, [and] that’s somehow celebrated as humility… [but Larry Tomczak] is confronted with observations of pride and arrogance, prayerfully considers these observations, repents of his sin, writes a letter to this effect that is distributed to the entire ministry, steps down from leadership, and submits to months of disciplinary consequences… [only to be considered] ‘disqualified’ to lead a church?

“I’m sorry. But this woman’s posts—more than any others (b/c she was obviously involved in this process)—has convinced me that Sovereign Grace is a cult.”

(comment by “SGM Casualty” on SGM Survivors)

This website is blowing the lid off of the corruption and poor leadership that’s been allowed to fester in Sovereign Grace Ministries, due to years of fear, control, and cultic tactics. It’s heartbreaking to hear some of the stories from former members; moreso to hear the ensuing silence from SGM leadership.

There’s nasty stuff in there, folks, but C.J. et al seem to want to just circle the wagons. Honestly? I think that’s worse than anything that’s being said over on the blog (and new message board).

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.“ — Ephesians 5:11 (ESV)

UPDATE: On Friday, March 14th, Eric Simmons spoke to the singles at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. You can download the MP3 of his talk, but what I find most interesting is this particular quote (beginning at the 13:49 mark):

I’m also concerned because at this point in time, we are at the pinnacle of the Information Age. You can in an instant find tons of information on any subject you want on Google. Do you realize that Google allows you to be one step away from a lot of heresies?

There are a lot of heretics out there with a lot of false teachings that have blogs. And it’s phenomenal to me in our age now, that what is represented on the Internet is now seen as fact, and authority, and truth! And the reality? Most of these guys who are writing blogs are 24-year-old guys living in their moms’ basement, sitting there in their underwear! That’s what they’re doing! They’ve got a robe on, and they’re just typing away. And they’re typing away their false teaching, which is honestly a bunch of garbage.

It’s out there! It’s just one click away.

I would humbly submit that this is nothing more than fear-based propaganda. (I would also like to point out that C.J. Mahaney, Josh Harris and Eric Simmons are all bloggers–Eric doubly so, as he also writes for the New Attitude blog.)

UPDATE #2: I seem to have driven the “Orthodoxy Underground” further underground, as can be attested by Google’s cached versions of these Blogger profiles. (Thanks to Elaine Hooton for pointing out that the blog was apparently taken down.) I don’t know much of anything about the blog (it was private; you had to be pre-approved by their admins just to read it), but apparently (according to Google) Thabiti Anyabwile, Justin Buzzard and Ricky Alcantar were all members of the blog. So why’d they delete the whole thing, just a few days after this matter came up?

UPDATE #3: Bugger. The Google Cache link doesn’t work anymore. Well, it just listed the Blogger profiles for Eric, Thabiti, Justin and Ricky (and showed them as linked to the Orthodoxy Underground site). Thanks to Dan for catching this one!

UPDATE #4: What do I mean by “cult”? Find out here.

If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey—even if it has a monkey kind of shape—if it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey! If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey… it’s an ape.

Have you ever wondered how to tell the difference between the two? Larry the Cucumber comes to our rescue once again in this Silly Song from The Wonderful Wizard of Ha’s:

The kids love listening to WJTL’s Kids’ Cookie Break every Saturday morning, and this song has gotten frequent airplay. Joshua’s been walking around saying “monkey” over and over again. Especially pointing to Jakey, our stuffed gorilla (which is an ape).

Oh, and I guess since this is St. Patrick’s Day (BTW, today I’m wearing red—the anti-green!) I ought to send you off to watch Big Idea’s St. Patrick flannel-graph biography.

You know, it’s gotten to where I don’t even want to go to a mall if they have a Vickie’s. They’ve gotten so brazen with their—let’s call a spade a spade, folks—pornographic window displays that Nicole and I have quietly boycotted them for nearly half a decade. I’m not the only one, either: I know of many men and women (mostly conservative Christians) who would like to shop there, but don’t want to support a store which seems more interested in selling immorality.

Now, finally, it looks like Victoria’s Secret is taking the hint:

“Victoria’s Secret… has become ‘too sexy’ for its own good, its top executive said.

‘We’ve so much gotten off our heritage… we use the word ‘sexy’ a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine,’ said Sharen Turney, Victoria’s Secret’s chief executive.”

It seems the company lost quite a bit of money over the past year, and they’re finally returning to their roots: “The chain was started in San Francisco in 1977 by Roy Raymond, who said he was embarrassed trying to buy lingerie for his wife and hoped to provide a comfortable place for men to shop“ (emphasis mine). Married men don’t like being made to feel like they’re entering a strip club when they’re trying to buy something cute for their wives to wear in the bedroom. The store’s original owner understood that, and hopefully this latest news means the current owners now understand it, too.

The world at large seems to think that sex is for anything but a happy marriage. What originally made Victoria’s Secret unique was that they celebrated the marriage bed. When they gave up that truly unique angle and instead relied on cheap titillation, the attention waned and they started losing money. Good for them that they noticed before they went bankrupt.

Me? I just hope the changes are made before Nicole’s birthday. Or at least mine.

So I Googled the number, and it turns out it’s Payless ShoeSource wanting to tell me about a “buy one, get one free” sale they’re running. And yes, I know that’s not what they’re calling it, but I absolutely refuse to call this a “BOGO.” “Buy one, get one” means exactly that: you get the one item you bought. “Buy one, get one free,” on the other hand, means you get two items when you only paid for one. (Interesting tidbit: “shoplifting” can mean the same thing, but the stores don’t typically encourage such behavior. It’s true!)

Ahem. So why did Payless call me at work (at 2:30pm, when I’m not likely to drop everything and run out to buy two pairs of shoes)? A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of boots from Payless. Where I was asked for my phone number at the cash register. I’m too nice to flat-out refuse, so I gave ‘em the number at my desk.

Here’s what really irks me about all of this: when asked for my phone number, I was never told that I would receive phone calls regarding future sales. If anything, I was given the impression that my phone number was needed because I was paying with a debit card, or to track demographics (like when other stores will ask for your 3-digit area code). I was tricked into being barraged by advertisements, just because I don’t want to be a jerk to a store clerk who’s simply doing as she was trained. I was never asked permission for this use of my phone number, and never offered it. This use was forced upon me by somebody who cares nothing for me as a person, but merely for what he can get by using me.

You could say Payless raped my phone number.

Now I like the boots I bought. I was ready to make Payless my “the shoe store” for the foreseeable future. But as happy as I was, I feel like I’d be encouraging this sort of customer disservice if I continued to buy from them. Which sucks, because I don’t want to have to find another place to buy shoes.

“Real permission is different from presumed or legalistic permission. Just because you somehow get my email address doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because I don’t complain doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because it’s in the fine print of your privacy policy doesn’t mean it’s permission either.” — Seth Godin, Permission Marketing

I won’t forget this. Payless has lost any and all trust I had in them. They may never earn it back. And all because they refused to consider others as more important than themselves.

McCain thinks the voters have no right to know a Presidential candidate’s approach to foreign policy; Cheney really did want to invade Iraq for the oil, after all—and was making plans to do so as early as six months before 9/11; and TSA officials are now confiscating baby food and divvying it up amongst themselves.

Is it any wonder why I’m happy that a guy like Ron Paul isn’t giving up?

If I’ve seemed absent lately, it’s because I’m working on a bit more “comic booky” stuff than I usually tackle in a given month. I even took some work home this past week (which is something I typically try to avoid). It’s fun and all, but I just can’t get into the blogging groove with Damocles’ dagger dangling overhead…

Anyway, I’m almost done and I’ll be back soon. Besides, the next version of WordPress (2.5) is going to be released soon, and I have some template cleanup work to do if I’m gonna be ready to upgrade in time!

(Pictured: Me at home. Late at night. Drinking coffee, looking over [H 95040] “The Mysterious Mustachio. Thinking of witty things to say…)

So this morning, Mr. Sutton was talking about waterboarding, torture, etc. and basically said the military needs to do all o’ that and more to find out whatever they can to stop terrorists. I’m no good on the phone, so I sent him a few e-mails (two of which I sent in early enough for him to read on the air):

Gary,

My concern with waterboarding is a concern with torture in general being used to extract information: it’s not very reliable.

Here Gary broke in and asked, “how do you know it’s not reliable, Travis? It was reliable with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, right?” Well, maybe not. Anyway, I wasn’t on the phone so I couldn’t disagree with him there. Continuing, I quoted Ron Paul:

“Legal issues aside, the American people and government should never abide the use of torture by our military or intelligence agencies. A decent society never accepts or justifies torture. It dehumanizes both torturer and victim, yet seldom produces reliable intelligence.” — Rep. Ron Paul

Gary said he respects Paul, but called this stance “naïve.” Seems it was so naïve that he made sure to say my e-mail “attributed the quote to Ron Paul.” That’s true, but Paul really said it back in 2004.

Anyway, Gary went on to read my second e-mail (a bit of context first: a caller had asked Gary if the President swears an oath to defend the people of the United States, and Gary answered in the affirmative):

Gary,

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The oath is to defend the Constitution, not American lives. True, “faithfully execut[ing] the Office” does include being “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States,” but this doesn’t mean he can commit Treason against the Constitution in an effort to “protect American lives.”

I can’t remember exactly what he said in response to this, but he essentially said I was spending too much time on particular words and phrases and missing the gist of the thing. (Gosh, if he only knew!)

The problem with this “the President swears an oath to protect the people” statement is that there’s a reason folks assert “people” instead of “Constitution”; namely, the current Administration has been acting in blatant opposition to the Constitution since 9/11 (if not earlier), and justify their unlawful acts by saying, “it’s to protect the people.”

So I sent him another e-mail as a follow-up, but couldn’t get it off before his show ended. In it, I laid out my case for why I believe the Executive Branch’s condoning of waterboarding and similar interrogation methods constitutes an Act of Treason:

Thanks for addressing my e-mails. Sounds like I need to flesh out my stance a bit.

• Under Article 6, The Constitution states that “…all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”
• The United States ratified the Geneva Conventions (a series of four treaties) in 1882.
• The War Crimes Act of 1996 made any grave breach of those restrictions a U.S. felony.
• In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Third Geneva Convention applies to all detainees in the War on Terror.
• Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention states, in part:
  

  No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

So unless and until the Federal Government breaks these treaties, the Executive Branch is knowingly allowing its members (within the Armed Forces) to commit felonies and breach ratified treaties which are, according to the Constitution, “the supreme Law of the Land.”

Ours is a nation where the Rule of Law is supreme, so condoning acts which our Constitution prohibits makes a person an Enemy of the United States. Adhering to such an Enemy is an act of treason, according to Article 3 of the Constitution.

And that’s where I stand. The “Rule of Law” is the foundation for our country, and so we cannot tolerate anyone who would exchange that foundation for the Rule of Men.

Our nation’s continued existence isn’t nearly as important as what sort of people will comprise this nation in the future. Are we willing to become a Western imitation of Iran or Saudi Arabia or communist China, so long as we keep the “USA” brand? It would be better for the USA to be overthrown from without than for it to be gradually converted to the philosophies of our enemies.

We will not defeat terrorism by becoming terrorists. Yet that is exactly the course our government seems to be Hell-bent on pursuing.

God help us all.

UPDATE: I came across an article regarding President Bush’s admitting that waterboarding has been used as an interrogation tactic since 9/11, and the author makes some excellent points:

Describing waterboarding in the book The History of Torture, George Ryley Scott wrote:

[The torture of water] was generally adopted when racking, in itself, proved ineffectual. The victim, while pinioned on the rack, was compelled to swallow water, which was dropped slowly on a piece of silk or fine linen placed in his mouth. This material, under pressure of the water, gradually glided down the throat, producing the sensation experienced by a person who is drowning. A variation of the water torture was to cover the face with a piece of thin linen, upon which the water was poured slowly, running into the mouth and nostrils and hindering or preventing breathing almost to the point of suffocation.

The KGB, the Khmer Rouge, the Gestapo, the Vietcong, the Communist North Koreans and the Burmese Junta all used waterboarding as torture.

Japanese soldiers who engaged in waterboarding were tried for war crimes after World War II.

The author goes on to say, as I did, that “[t]orture, even when used on those that seem so transparently evil as the al-Qaeda henchmen in our grasp at Gitmo, is, simply put, a betrayal both of America’s past and her promise for the future.”

The United States is supposed to be better than this.

A few weeks back, Katie drew this picture of a bee. I love it.

Yes, you!